


Nothing Left of You

by OofieScreams



Series: Numb MK au [1]
Category: LEGO Monkie Kid
Genre: (spoilers for the big reveal tags incoming), (whoops forgot some other stuff), Gen, Internalized Arophobia, Kidnapping, Numbness, and it's not cuz MK's numbed to all feelings, arophobia, feel free to interpret this as you will but uh. this ain't a shippy story lol, self hatred
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-27
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:35:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,137
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29688219
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/OofieScreams/pseuds/OofieScreams
Summary: MK is numb. It started when he came back from his presumed death, and only got worse as time went on. So, Red Son takes it as his responsibility to bring his real, obnoxious, stupid rival back.(Prolly gonna be shorter than I want but that's fine :) I'm not mad I can't make it nice and long and agonizing :) this is fine AHAHAHAHAAAAA!)
Relationships: Qi Xiaotian | MK & Red Son
Series: Numb MK au [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2185713
Comments: 4
Kudos: 11





	1. Nothing Left and Plotting

**Author's Note:**

> Sup fuckers I'm stupid and started another story to accompany my many other wips!! Ventfics don't count of course lol but I have other stuff, unfortunately.

He used to be lively. Excited, nervous, fierce, he used to be so emotional. Now he's nothing. Red Son misses that. He misses all those feelings he only saw on his face in the first battle. The moment he came back from Flower Fruit Mountain, he seemed more reserved. He thought it was just hero stress. He was so, so wrong.

He first noticed it at the weather station. He still had clear feelings, but he seemed to have them less intensely. Like they were being repressed. They hadn't even carried a conversation over their fight! Noodle Boy had ignored all of his insults. It was like they weren't even rivals! Just… random enemies. He'd hated it. 

A few weeks later he'd followed him home. Not for any reason other than curiosity. He thought it might give him answers about his numbness. All he'd found out was Noodle Boy lost all feeling and he seemed to live with Dragon Horse Girl. She was as confused as him on Noodle Boy's numbness! 

"MK seriously, what's going on?!" She'd yelled.

"I told you. I don't feel anymore." He said. 

"But why?!" She wailed. "What's wrong, did something happen? Talk to me! Please!"

"Nothing happened that you need to worry about. I'm okay. I'm a hero, remember?"

"That's exactly why I'm worried! This hero stuff… it's crazy and scary, I didn't think it'd affect you like this!"

"The fighting isn't doing this, Mei."

Well, he wasn't getting anything out of this. What a waste of his time and skill. He slunk away, already making a new plan in his mind. A better one than this.

The next day, he disguised himself as a normal human. No horns, floppy ears, or firey amber eyes. Just smooth skin, small and round ears, and dark, humanlike eyes. He went into the shop Noodle Boy worked at. He was getting answers here. No matter what.

"Who's that? He looks… I dunno. Tired? That seems wrong." He pointed at Noodle Boy, who was leaving just then. His face was blank as a sheet of paper. Like always.

"We don't know what happened." The man sitting next to him looked sad. "After… Well, one day he started getting number and number. We don't really know why."

"So there was a specific event? Was it traumatic? If so, you should check for brain damage."

"I shouldn't tell you the specifics, that's really personal." He immediately began slurping his noodles very vigorously to escape the conversation.

"Hmmm…" He rubbed his chin. "Thank you." He left without getting any noodles, to Mr. Tang's suspicion.

MK returned after he delivered all the noodles, faster than average. Probably because he didn't get distracted or emotional. Not out of character. Not anymore.

Red Son waited until he was on his break. The Noodle Boy came out, looking as empty as ever. He stepped out of the shadows, still disguised, and greeted him. 

"Hello! I noticed you look a bit tired. Is everything okay?" 

"Yes. I'm not tired. I'm just emotionless."

"Huh. That's… odd. Why?"

"Is there a reason for you to know?" He looked infuriatingly calm. Like he didn't even care he was being asked deeply personal questions by a stranger, and it made Red Son so mad.

"Why are you numb?! What happened, Noodle Boy?!" He yelled, dropping his disguise.

"I can't tell you." MK replied. He had no other reaction, as always.

"It must be a spell! I'm going to break it, don't you worry Noodle Boy! You'll be your annoying self in under a week, we won't even need to leave a note it'll be so fast!" He grinned cheerfully, picking MK up. 

He didn't struggle. "Please leave a note. They will get worried quickly."

"Fine." He took a scrap of paper and a pen out and scribbled down   
'I am taking the Noodle Boy away so I can break his curse turning him numb. I will not hurt him, of course. That's improper rival etiquette. He will be back and lively as ever in a week at the longest. Sincerely, Red Son.'   
He kicked it under the curtain in the doorway, and whooshed off in a burst of flame to fix whatever was wrong with MK.


	2. Heroism

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Red Son tries many things, and eventually finds out what's wrong with MK.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Damn I updated this fast! I'm proud of myself tbh :)

They arrived in his laboratory, which held a medical bed in case of emergency, several bits of scrap metal, and a lot of other magical mechanics supplies.

"Here we are! Go change into something more befitting a surgery, I've got hospital gowns in my bathroom attached here. I'll be preparing and sterilizing the tools and my work area, so you'll be perfectly safe." He set MK down, and pointed to said bathroom. "Everything you'll need is in there."

"Thank you." MK nodded. Numb though he was, he was still polite. He went in, as stiff and stoic as ever. Red tried to ignore the anger bubbling inside him at it.

He wiped down the table with disinfectant and lay wax paper over it to distract himself. That was done quickly, so he started disinfecting his scalpel and other assorted surgical tools. He was almost done when MK came out of the bathroom, wearing a generic looking hospital gown, but with the Demon Bull Family emblem on it.

"Can I lie down?"

"Yes, I'll just be a second." Red Son nodded. He finished cleaning the last tool, and put on his surgical mask.

He began prepping the sleeping medication for MK, so he didn't have to be awake through his surgery.

"I won't need that." MK said. "I can't feel anything, so if you don't drug me I'll be fine."

"Yes, but looking back on it when you're better will be traumatic. And it'll make my job easier without you looking at me like… that."

"Like what?"

"Your blank expression is fucking infuriating in it's own and if you're undergoing invasive surgeries by your nemesis with it I'll try to ellicit a reaction. You could die."

"Oh. Go ahead then." He didn't seem offended by being infuriating. It was so, so annoying! Argh! He wanted to hit that stupid, blank look off his stupid face!

No, no. This surgery would return him to normal. Hitting him wouldn't help. He sighed, finishing the propofol calculations and setting up the machinery.

"Okay, this is gonna sting a little bit." He held up the IV needle. "I know that doesn't matter to you but I still felt like I had to say it."

"Okay. That's nice of you."

Red Son sighed again, and picked up MK's hand to check for good veins to prick. There was a nice one just behind his pointer finger. "Hold still." He pressed the needle in, and click! It went in smoothly. He hooked up the propofol bag, and started the drip process. 

"Okay, you'll fall asleep soon." Red Son said, shuffling his feet.

MK yawned. "Immmm…" he passed out.

Red got to work, cutting MK open to examine his insides for clues.  
-*~-*~-  
Nothing. He'd found nothing. He'd checked every little organ and muscle, bone, vein, all of it! Nothing! He shut off the IV, and got a bandaid. 

MK woke up. "Did you find anything?"

"No."

"I see." He looked close to disappointed, just for a moment. Then nothing. Again.

"Well, I better let you recover. Let me remove the IV first, though." He took his hand again and pressed a wad of cotton to where the needle went into his skin. He pulled the needle out and used the band aid to hold it in place.

"What do I do now?" MK asked.

"Recover from the surgery."

"Was it a vivisection?"

"No! Vivisections are done on animals for science, and it's typically very cruel! You dumbass!" His hair went up in flames.

"I see. Apologies." He still looked blank.

He sighed. "Just… don't do much, okay? I'll get you a snack."

He went to grab some fruit for him, looking for a peach. He probably liked those? Or maybe it didn't matter. He just grabbed something that looked ripe and slunk back to his workshop.

"Here." He pressed the orange he'd grabbed into MK's hand. "Have this."

"Okay." MK was sitting up now, and he didn't look to be in pain. Then again, he didn't look like anything. 

Red went back to his sketchpad, to think up more ideas to return MK to normal… A brainscan. Duh. He slapped his forehead. Giving MK a brainscan was the clear next step, how stupid was he?! He'd check for differences in his brain and therefore mind, it was so obvious! In a few days though, let MK recover from his surgery.

He wrote it down, just in case. But how to hide MK from his parents? He supposed he could hide him in here, they didn't like it here much, theu said it was too dirty despite how clean he kept it… Oh well, that worked in his favor now he supposed. It was for the best.  
-*~-*~-  
When MK was well enough to walk across the room without aid, he decided to do the brainscan.

Since he didn't have the machinery for one, he had to use mind reading spells while MK sat very still and meditated.

He nudged around the thoughts, checking if there were any spells on him. He didn't find anything cast by someone else, though. There were hints of something that could only be done by MK, though, from a potion voluntary drunk… odd. He kept prodding around a bit, but found nothing.

"Hey MK? He stopped the spell. "Did you cast the spell on yourself?"

"I'd never do anything to directly cause harm to myself, Burning One." He blinked innocently..

"What's up with the nickname?" 

"You have one for me, so I thought I should have one for you."

"Okay. Go ahead with it I guess." He sighed. "But still, did you cast a spell on yourself?"

"I-" he paused. "Did not cast a spell."

"If you say so…" Potions weren't technically spells, most of the time. Technically.  
-*~-*~-  
Red Son was reading about mental illnesses. So far there weren't any that involved having no emotions except possibly depression, but that was only slightly similar to MK's condition. There was nothing else like it. He had learned quite a bit on getting people to open up their emotions to you, though… that was going to be very helpful. 

He got up from his latest article, full of generic theraputic techniques on emotional aid.

"Hey Noodle Boy!" He chirped to him. He was looking out the window, at the clone Red had asked he send to request more time to help him from his friends. 

"Hello."

"So, how's your day?"

"Same as ever."

"That's good! No run ins with my parents?"

"Nope."

"I didn't think so." He chuckled. "By the way, do you think Monkie King is worried for you?"

"Probably not, since I told him I can't be a hero." MK froze, realizing what he'd said.

"Why is that?"

"It was because- it was the lack of self confidence, I suppose!" He almost sounded nervous. Not quite, though.

"Liar. There's something else. Why else would you just let me kidnap and potentially brainwash you to my side?! I'm your rival!"

"So you can fix me." MK admitted.

"What do you mean?" He was immediately suspicious. He knew MK was trans, he'd noticed it during the surgery, but he didn't think he cared much about his body. He couldn't really know though, seeing as MK had no emotions most of their rivalry.

"I mean," MK was approaching him now, "that I want you to make me fall in love." He grabbed the collar of his jacket, leaning his face in close. "Make me fall in love, Burning One! I know you can do it.~" MK purred.

"Wh- no, love isn't what makes you a good person or a hero! It's not giving up on the world, and trying to save it! I'd never do that, of course, I'm a supervillain, but I still love! My parents are in love! They're still very evil! It's not the defining factor!"

"But I know you can fix me, Red Son! So do it." He nuzzled Red's cheek. "Pleaaase?"

"No! Get off of me!" He shoved him away. "Stop it, right now!"

"But there's no other way I can be a hero without inevitably falling to villainy!" He pleaded.

Red Son started forming a plan. He was panicked, so it'd need fine tuning, but it was all he had. "Okay, fine." He sighed. "Just… let me go get some things, alright? I'll be back in maybe three hours." He wasn't really going to do it, of course, but he did have some… words to share with a certain group of people. And he was possibly dragging them over here for an apology.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you have any questions on MK's motives for his numbness feel free to ask, but please try not to be insensitive! Thank you. :3

**Author's Note:**

> Everyone excited? Worried? Invested? I hope so I don't really like this chapter much.


End file.
